Being a hunter and other dangerous pastimes
by The 21 blue dudes
Summary: Manji when he was younger ,and less of a great warrior.Back in the days when he was a hunter's apprentice.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**A/N:** I'd like to thank Itami for helping me out and other fellows, Winterchild thanks for contributing. I have so much to say to you but a lack of time and page space, you're in every way a brilliant person, don't ever change.

"Come on Manji, you need to eat something." A blonde haired boy patted him on the back, proffering a plate of scrambled eggs and crispy bacon.

"Thanks Sam, but I'm not hungry." Manji looked at the delicious food, his stomach growled, but he felt too nervous.

Today was the day he received the results of their sub jobs. After choosing one of the five classes, they had to choose a sub job when they were thirteen years old. They become apprentices in various trades such as Alchemists, Librarian and Sector Guards. There were many more, but those were the main three.

Manji hoped to be a Sector Guard, who had the responsibility of guarding the Omega Sector from various alien assaults. In battle they piloted fighter jets, providing support from air and sea. They also acted as the frontline in wars.

"You should eat something, it calms nervousness," Sam flipped a pancake and laid it in front of him. Sam was a Page like Manji, but for some strange reason he wanted a sub job as a cook. The breakfast that now sat in front of Manji had been prepared by him.

"I'm sure you'll get the job," said girl with messy red hair, now spooning yoghurt into her mouth, gave him a reassuring smile. Lana, the Ice Lightning mage, had been his oldest and closest friend. She too had applied to be Sector guard. Manji felt a little better but her reassurance didn't completely loosen the knots that had been tightly tied in his stomach.

A boy rushed into the dining hall. "All applicants are requested in the assembly hall now."

Manji's heart did a back flip, _this is it_, he thought to himself. Lana gave him a quick hug and they headed towards the assembly hall.

The oak doors of the assembly hall creaked open. Manji had seen the hall thousands of times. There were no windows and a long table stretched the breath of the hall there were thirteen chairs each for an advisor on the orphanage .Apart from a few painting the walls were relatively bare. Now it felt larger than ever.

Anticipation crackled in the air as Manji caught snatches of conversation from various people, some nervous others excited, some even downright boastful, but all of them, like him, had hopes and dreams.

"Settle down," a thin man with wire glasses and spiky hair stood waiting for them. A hush fell, conversation died away and the whole hall fell silent.

"I'm going to make this quick," his voice carried through the hall clearly

"I will start by the main three sub jobs, the less common, and finally the reassigned."Manji's heart now beat like a bass drum; his breathing came out in short shallow bursts.

"Librarians, Alan Scribe, Alex Page, Amanda Ink…" The list went on.

"Sector Guards, Adam Buckler Alice blade…"Manji waited and waited past the K's "Landon Garcia, Lexus Swift."

_Lana hadn't got a post? She'll be devastated!_Lana gave his hand a small squeeze.

"I'll be fine," she whispered "maybe I'll get to be a Librarian, always wanted try being one." But her sea green eyes told otherwise.

"Matthew Strider."Manji began to pray, Matt was the only M named person apart from him, if his name was missed then…

"Noah Hunter."

It took less than a second to realize what had happened, and then the reality sank in. It felt like watching his dream of becoming a Sector Guard curl into ashes after being burned in fire. He would cry, but curiously enough he couldn't. He felt an aching pain just below his ribs, and it sucked. His sadness slowly replaced by a sense of dread. If he was reassigned then what sub job would he end up with?

A voice stopped his train of thought "Culinary, Samuel Cook." Sam had his hands over his mouth, eyes full of joy. Manji smiled a little; _at least he managed to get what he wanted._ He thought watching his friend doing a happy, and somewhat goofy celebratory jig.

"The reassigned, all of you that haven't been called please remain here, the rest of you are dismissed. You will receive your mentor's information and location later on," informed the announcer. The rest of them filed out. As Sam walked past, he mouthed a "good luck" before leaving at him and Lana.

A small group of ten people remained, "Reassigned, Sector guards."

He and Lana stepped forward; his fists clenched, turning his knuckles pale. _Please let it be something good_ Lana Charter and Manji Andrea _please let it be -_

"Both of you are reassigned… as Hunters."

At first he felt relived, at least it wasn't farming or tailoring. Then he realized a small problem, he knew as much about hunters as a fish knew about riding bicycles. For all he knew, Hunters could spend their time researching the magical properties of gummy bears. He turned to Lana who looked equally bewildered.

"Any questions?"

Manji raised his hand. "What on earth do Hunters do?"

The man sighed, "Honestly son, I'm clueless. I just got my job two weeks ago and Hunters are a rather small branch of secretive people. Ask your mentor tomorrow, I'm sure he'll explain."

Manji groaned. _Well that was surprisingly helpful._

Manji felt odd seeing his orphanage for the last time, he might not miss it terribly, but still it was always a constant in his life. He'd packed his processions in a small bag, belted on his short katana and his steel buckler hung over his shoulder. He took one last look at the mirror, cerulean eyes looked back, _I need a haircut,_he light hazel hair fell way past his forehead any longer and seeing would be a problem. On_second thoughts, a pair of garden shears may be in order_, he mused to himself.

"You ready?" Sam asked.

In truth Manji wasn't really that ready .The prospect of not knowing what was coming didn't exactly make him feel any better.

"Sure, bring it on gummy bears." he mumbled.

Manji looked at his location for the last time; apparently he had a mentor by the name of Tristan Lancer. He had a small cabin on the edge of the Ellenia forest, bordering Henessys. He raised his hand to knock on the door. He paused, the strange thing about knocking on doors he thought, was the fact that you never really knew what to expect. He'd imagined Tristan to be tall with a broadsword strapped to his back; then again he could turn out entirely different. It opened before he could even bring his fist down.

Tristan wasn't tall like he imagined, on the contrary he was quite short, and with salt and pepper hair. His eyes were a shade of dark blue, and filled with a certain youthful energy.

"Finished staring yet, boy?"

Manji realized what he'd been doing "Yes, sir" he said hastily.

"Imagined I'd be taller, boy?"

Manji paused "No, sir"

Tristan raised an eyebrow, "Honesty is the best policy."Without further comment he gestured at the door to let Manji in.

Tristan has a neat, clean cabin; some comfortable looking chairs separated the kitchen and living area. The study had a large bookshelf, filled with an assortment of books and a simple oak table.

He looked at the letter opener and then to Tristan's rather messily cut beard. "I wonder if you cut it with that?" he whispered to himself.

"Thinking out loud is a dangerous habit, mind you."

Manji gulped, _how had he heard that?_ He quickly thought of something to distract Tristan.

"Erm Sir, what does a hunter's apprentice do?"

"He keeps quiet."

"Anything else, sir?"

"He asks fewer questions."

"And?"

"If his head isn't full of fluff like a soft toy, he learns. Oh, and the best part, he does the house chores."

"Excuse me?"

"The cleaning boy, I assume you know what this is," he held out a broom and a mop as well as a bucket. "There's wood to be cut, plates to be washed, and floors to be swept. Wouldn't want to miss all that good fun now would we?"

Manji sighed as he rolled up his sleeves as he reached for the broom.

As he worked his way to the living room, he swore he heard Tristan give a soft chuckle. "I forget how much fun it is to have an apprentice."

"Where is he?" Lana mumbled as she cleared through Sleepywoods to an archery range. The steady thud of arrows filled her ears. Having no photo and only a name finding her mentor, Will Blakewood, could take forever.

A slim figure raced towards her, feet flying over the grass, cloak billowing behind him. It faded in an out of view at times like a moving shadow. As the figure got closer she could make out messy black hair and eyes. He stopped in front of her.

He straightened himself up adjusting his cloak "Sorry, have you seen Lana Charter? Oh right, you're her. You're awfully early." He offered a hand, "Will Blakewood."

She stared for a minute, "Aren't you a bit young to be a mentor."

"Ah… I'm a bit of an exception. Did you see my age on that paper of yours "

"It says N/A, is it a mistype?"

"No, you see, I'm 60 years old. "

"B-But that's impossible, you look 25 at most."

"That's the catch... I'm a spirit. "

She choked, "A what?"

"I think it's easier if I show you." An electric blue light burst out of his palm, the light spread out until it surrounded his whole body. He walked up to a tree, went straight through it.

Lana stared "Oh…"

"So theoretically you're dead," she stated after Will had popped out of the other side.

"I think so."

"You don't know?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm dead, but I could be a ghastly hallucination of yours. But there's really no time to linger on the fact that you might be crazy, we have to get cracking."

"Just one last quick question. Pleeeaaase."

Will sighed, "They know you're a ghost, and suddenly they all want jolly Q and A sessions. Shoot."

"Can you die... Erm again, permanently?"

"Are you seriously asking me that? Why on earth should I tell you, I mean you could get bloody angry at me one day and then bam! I'd be dead… again. But, since you ask so nicely, I die of anything except natural causes." Lana blinked a few times, not quite understanding what he meant.

"In simpler words, I can be killed and feel pain in my solid state which I'm in a lot of the time because turning into my erm spirit like thing is energy draining and take focus."

"Oh… can I try it?"

"No."

Manji's arms burned after halving a stack of pinewood for the fire. He groaned, flopping on a bean bag, "Is that enough sir?"

Tristan looked up from a file he'd been reading. He stood up and looked around, the kitchen now gleamed, the floors were dust free, and the fire roared away with its new supply of wood.

"Not bad boy, not bad at all."

"Really?" Manji felt a sense of pride at his master's praise."Uhh…Sir."

"Mmm?"

"I was wondering."

Tristan raised his hands stopping him. "Remember the last time you asked a question?"

Manji paused; his arms hadn't quite forgiven him for that mistake. "I was thinking..."

"I hope you were."

"What do Hunters do?"

Tristan looked at him thoughtfully for a few moments "Come with me," he got up from his chair.

He followed Tristan to his study. His master traced his fingers over the multitudes of books on his shelf, stopping at one with a red leather spine. He selected it, and showed Manji the cover "The Hunter's Bestiary" it read, etched in silver.

"This," said Tristan as he flipped through the pages, "is the most basic and crucial information you will learn as a Hunter." He cleared his throat,"I'll summarize what the book says about it," he added.

"As a hunter, we're investigators for Athena. When anything strange pops up, we do our best to find as much as possible about it," he began

"Strange in what sense, sir?"

Tristan paused a bit as if contemplating whether to talk more. "I'm sure you've heard of the Black Mage."

Manji shivered, "Yes sir."

"When he raises the dead or sends his followers to cause trouble, we're sent to deal with it. We used to only handle dead and dark things, but now anything including murder, enemy suicide missions, heists, you name it, and they call us in."

"Doesn't the Omega Sector handle that?"

"They simply don't have the time, every guard they have is busy fighting alien threats, or flying in to help fight other threats which recently including the temple of time since they never have enough Chrono guards on the watch, and they don't have extensive knowledge on how to handle undead either."

"Hunters certainly aren't as popular as them."

"That's because nobody bothers with the small but more important people."

"How are we more important?"

"The Omega Sector sends people to the rescue after something arises."

"How is that different from us?"

"We're sent to stop whatever said situation is, _before_ anything happens. Which believe me is a lot harder."

"And if we can't "

"If it's bad? Then we send in the Omega Sector."

"What if it's really bad?"

"Then the world could very well end."

"Okay, how often do we have to stop really bad stuff before it happens?"

"Do you consider the world attacked by dark creatures, and the possible prospect of a lunatic with twisted views ruling the world really bad?"

"Yes."

"Then, I'll say about almost every week or so."

"So there's a chance world could end every week?"

Tristan sighed ruefully "Yup, fun for the whole family."

"Do you guys really get a pay raise every week for saving the world?"

"Nope."

"That sucks."

Tristan looked at Manji with a raised eyebrow, "I know right."


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

"Manji ! GET UP!" Manji groaned, his eyes opened, sea green ones stared back at him.

"Lana…this had better be good." Ever since he'd rented the apartment opposite Lana, and given her the keys to his apartment, he'd wondered if he'd regret it one day. He did.

"HQ just called, they want us now."

Manji bolted upright, "Say what?"

"Get changed, Will's in the living room waiting."

_Will? That's Lana's mentor, what's he doing here?_ He wondered as he sheathed his sword, and threw his leather gloves into his backpack along with his own copy of the hunter's bestiary. Two weeks of his apprenticeship, and he'd already memorized notes on undead beings till his head hurt, accumulated a number of cuts and bruises from Tristan's training, and now the HQ had just called him at the ungodly hour of three in the morning.

"Cheer up Manji, we get holidays too you know." Will chuckled as Manji came into the living room with messy hair, and yesterdays clothes.

"Really ?" The tiny maintenance penguin in his life had found a torchlight.

"Sure ,one day on Christmas"

Will had promptly snuffed his penguin feathers and all.

"I love my job." He mumbled grabbing the coffee pot and pouring himself a mug, he had a feeling he was going to need the caffeine.

Will cracked his fingers, he pulled out a large manila envelope "Right down to business, according to our boffins at HQ, recently there's been a rising number of dead in Edelstein."

"Why can't this wait till morning?" Manji groaned.

"Edelstein is the birth place of the Black Mage. When anything happens there people tend to get jumpy, more specifically the people upstairs known as Athena pierce, and our boss Jacob Mason. If it's any consolation seventy other hunter guild agents share your pain."

"Wait, "Lana interrupted "Isn't Edelstein an old mining town?"

Will poured himself a mug of coffee. "Yes."

"There's always undead in the mines, it's not extremely unusual."

"True, but more than usual, and this time, they massacred a whole library."

Manji selected a bottle of potion from a shelf "A library? Why a library?"

"To gain knowledge on politics and how to be peaceful? "Lana said hopefully.

Will whacked her over the head lightly. "Manji, you need to go with Tristan to find out why undead raided a library. Lana, you're coming with me to a gun shop."

"Do we need guns?"

"No, we need answers; the owner of the shop's been killed."

"Edelstein." The airman grunted snatching the pouch of bronze coins from Tristan. Manji shivered, he'd only gotten an hour of rest on the airship, but the cold air now woke him up properly. _So this is Edelstein…crummy_. Crummy was an understatement, every building he could see either screamed the dying need for a paintjob, repairs or interior decoration. Most of them needed all three.

The outskirts of Edelstein was worse than slums back at Victoria islands, and he'd seen quite a few. Half a dozen mice had committed suicide in several alleys that Manji passed. The place smelled of fish and meat that had decided to valiantly try crawl back, and died in the attempt._The very stench of the city could probably knock a balrog dead at a hundred meters._ He thought.

Manji spotted a faded banner.

Travelers Hello, Welcome to Edelstein.

Or at least that's what it probably meant to say; with half the words gone it now it read

Travelers Hell , Edelstein.

They were trying to tell him something.

The library, or least what was left of it looked like a clumsy child's Lego house, _the architect must have been drinking heavy stuff ._Manji tilted his head to one side and the library looked straight. _This can't be good._

As Manji eased library door open ; a chill raced up his spine, and his blood froze .A man with his mouth wide open laid against the door , dark red liquid ran down his throat, his eyes stared vacantly into the distance. He wasn't the only one; a woman had her arm very violently slashed, she had died with her body half hanging out a window. Manji went further into the library; more cold soulless eyes stared at him. Every cell in his body wanted him to run in the other direction as far away from here as he could.

"Breathe. You'll feel better."Manji felt Tristan grasp his shoulder firmly, and let out a pent up breath, he felt a little better.

"You can leave if you wish, even I find staying here hard."

"I think I'll stay." Manji said softly.

Tristan patted him on the shoulder."Good boy."

Tristan knelt down at a dead man with greying hair, his robes were torn and his hand clutched a wand tightly."This is odd." he whispered picking up a gold chain with an owl pendant on it .

Manji looked over his master's shoulder, "What's odd?"

Tristan held up the bag."This chain is only given to arch mages; elite, hardened ,top dog mages handpicked by Grendel." He pointed at the dead man. "He, is one of them."

"How is that odd?"

Tristan paused. He looked at the trinket thoughtfully "I'm not going to jump to conclusions here, but if my theory is correct we could end up quite a lot of trouble."

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad could this end up?"

"Fifteen."

Manji's ears picked up the slight sound of shuffling feet .His hand loosed his katana from its sheath, a loud moan cut through the air. More followed, louder, more aggressive sounding. Snarls joined in; now anyone standing a hundred meters from the library could probably hear the ruckus.

Tristan cursed "Zombies."

Manji gulped, he felt his mouth go dry. "We can't run?"

Tristan looked out one of the broken window blinds.

"No, there's too many of them they have us surrounded."Tristan snapped a chair leg and shoved it into the door handle barring it. He flicked his hand, the air rippled and the nearest bookcase shot across the room slamming into the door.

"They're not too bright these zombies, so we're going to allow them to get in here and lock them in."

"Won't that mean being in the same confined space as them?"

"Uhh unfortunately, yes."

"Remember, use fire or destroy their heads." Tristan said drawing his own two handed sword. Moonlight reflected off it, casting a bluish white glow on the walls.

"Tristan?" He asked his hands shaking; they were cold despite him wearing gloves." If the whole library was killed, what makes you think we'll survive?"

"Dawn is coming, which means they won't be as aggressive as they were that the night when they attacked the library. Their numbers are probably only half of the original horde."

Manji looked out the small crack in the barred window, more figures were approaching. _I'd really hate to see the full horde of zombies._ He thought.

The terrifying groaning grew louder. Something slammed against the door, followed by another, thousands of hammers smashing against the library door, or at least that's what it sounded like. A window shattered, Tristan clicked his fingers sending a fireball roaring in the direction .It exploded, dust flew and smoke rose.

As the smoke cleared, pale white dead body came into view, its movements awkward and jerky; its eyes had been torn out, so when it turned to face them only its sightless gruesome eye sockets looked at him. It lunged.

Manji dived aside .A pair of bloodied hands as its long sharp fingernails lacerated the air above of him .He rolled away giving himself room .The zombie rushed at him again ,he sidestepped and cleaved downwards ,the edge of his katana bit deep into the zombie's shoulder severing it clean off. The zombie kicked aside its severed shoulder, as if the lack of an arm was a mere annoyance and continued its assault .Manji clicked his fingers, _Final Attack!_ Fire exploded from his palms wreathing his attacker in a firestorm, the charred body of the zombie fell at his feet.

Two more zombies attempted to crawl through the window, Tristan splayed his hands in the direction and they barely managed to get through the window before a storm of broken glass shards tore them into ribbons.

Somewhere upstairs a window shattered, a loud snarl came from behind Manji, and he spun around in time to see a zombie's reaching for him. He backed up stabbing wildly; his blade went through its throat. He drew upon magic from his mind, marks of fire and destruction glowed on his katana running down his blade. If zombies could scream the one in front of him did a good job of trying before it fell to its knees joining the mass of bodies on the floor.

Manji grabbed a broken curtain rail and flung it, intending to spear a nearby through its head. He missed and it ran through the zombie's chest with the sickening sound of bones breaking. Manji cursed, slashing its head off.

Tristan's sword spun and slashed his blade a dark blue blur in his hands .Blackened or beheaded bodies fell at his feet."GO! "he yelled

Manji didn't need to be told twice he, bolted for the back door. Tristan shot out the door after him, "withstand "he muttered, a silver mark melded across the wooden door.

"That should hold a while" He heard a low moan; zombies were rising out of alleys and dark corners in twos and threes from every direction.

"You go I'll cover an escape route. Get to the barricade" Manji hesitated, his face showed reluctance, something smashed against the door, it creaked but withstood, Tristan's spell couldn't hold forever. He ran in the direction of the barbed wire in the distance.

He ran harder and faster than he ever had in his life, his lungs scream at him and his legs burned. His life being at stake probably helped. Zombies crawled out of shops and building ruins after him, after a while a small horde hunted him like rabid dogs, rabid undead dogs intent on eating him alive.

He poured his reserves and more into his legs, his lungs felt like they might give out at any moment .A loose stone caught his foot and sent him sprawling. He tried get up, but he stumbled. Now he could see their pale, bloodied grotesque features as they drew nearer.

Soon they'd surround him.

There was a flash and a roar, the nearest zombie dropped to the ground like a stone. Manji saw a small group people rushing towards him, as they got closer he saw they were armed with rifles and staves all of them wore dark red coats with a symbol of a silver clog sewn on their sleeves. Fireballs and more bullets strafed the air ,which now smelled heavily of gunpowder.

"ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!" someone shook him, all he could only nod, he'd probably mumbled something, but the words sounded slurred like a bad recording. Another rifle roared, cutting off the person mid-sentence.

Soon the area was cleared of undead; a figure came pelting towards them, his features concealed by smoke and dust. Guns reloaded and staves glowed molten red.

"CEASE FIRE!" Manji recognized the voice, as the smoke cleared, a very worn out and smudged Tristan stumbled into view."Thank god," he gasped.

"I'm getting too old for this job you know that?"

"It's really cheerful here isn't it." Lana looked a signboard that had more bullet holes and arrows sticking out of it than actual wood left.

"This isn't the worse part of Edelstein "Will remind her."The outer parts of the city are struggling to fight undead. Here, we're relatively safe."

"Relatively?"

"We're in danger of getting killed by paranoid people."

"Oh goodie."

They came to a small farmhouse the gate barred by various pieces of discarded wood, hay and other things. Will drew two short hunting knives, at close range his bow wouldn't be much use .He motioned for Lana to follow.

They approached cautiously. Lana jumped at the crack of a twig ."Will ?"

"I think there's –"some of the discarded furniture moved, leaves rustled

Lana tensed up; her palms grew hot as magic flowed through them. Frost blossomed out of her wand.

"BACK OFF YOU BLACK WING SAVAGES!" Lana almost let loose a torrent of icicles, until she saw who it was. A red faced farmer came running out of behind the barricade.

"He has the physical structure of stickman."Lana whispered to Will, who elbowed her but a small smile graced his face.

The farmer had a wiry thin body structure, his arms long and skinny, the baggy shabby overalls he wore didn't help much either. He waved a sickle furiously.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY LAND!" he roared brandishing the sickle at Will.

"And bah humbug to you too sir."Will said softly, Lana stifled a giggle.

"Good morning," Will say in the cheerful tone,

"I'M NOT FOOLED BY YOU BLACK WING DOGS; I'M IN A BAD MOOD TODAY SO YOU BETTER SCRAM FAST."

" Ahh, lost your other six dwarf companions and dear snow white old boy? They must have left you behind by accident."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"Oh you know, cheerful, sleazy, droopy, squeezy, goofy, and doofus head. I can never remember them right, Lana what's the names of the others?"

"Grumpy ?" she suggested fighting to keep a straight face.

The farmer's face turned bright purple "DON'T YOU GET SMART WITH ME.I KNOW WHAT YOU"RE PLANNING."

"We just want to know where find a gun shop."Will continued calmly

"HOW THE BLAZES WOULD I KNOW, ASK SOMEONE ELSE."

Will looked at his apprentice; clearly they'd get nothing from him."Okay, we'll leave now."

The man watched them leave, even after they lost sight of him Lana felt pretty sure he was still watching to see if they would come back. "I don't think he likes us."

Will grinned as he strung his bow. "I wonder what gave that away. Was it the sickle?"

"Do you think he's still watching us?"

"I'd bet my life on it, he's probably going to wake up in the middle of the night to check too."

Lana never felt more unwelcome in her whole life than she did now in the main city of Edelstein, no children played on the streets, and people kept their heads down when they passed.

Will tried to ask for directions but all hey got were filthy looks and glares. He sighed and slumped down after his last attempt."How are we going to find our bloody way around here, if we can't even find a decent non paranoid person for a map?"

"Then we do it the old fashioned way."

"Old fashioned way?" Lana felt herself dreading the answer

Will pointed ahead casually "By walking"

* * *

><p>Drake Winchester sat in his gun workshop, he'd been there for quite some time now staring at his door .He looked like he was thinking, deep in thought for his next idea for a gun ,sadly this wasn't true.<p>

Drake was no longer breathing; a knife handle protruded out of his chest, dried blood stained his shirt.

Lana looked down at his body, "Any ideas Will?"

Will shrugged "What do you think?"

Lana kneeled and carefully studied the oak table Drake was sprawled across, there were various ammo clips, bullets, a flintlock and several papers with sketches of guns on them.

"Not a robbery."

"Excellent, that's one motive off the list, and why?

She picked up the flintlock, a single bullet rolled into her palm "His gun has gold plates and his ring is still on his finger."

"Like everyone here ,he's either paranoid or careful. He's facing the door; he can't be surprised unless someone climbed through the window_." But we're on the 2nd __floor; his main shop is downstairs .How were you killed? Will_ studied the door,there were two deadbolts and a slightly scratched padlock. "

A creak, it cut through Will's train of thought. _Someone's coming up the stairs._He placed a finger to his lips and motioned to Lana pointing downwards.

"Hide." He whispered. Lana scrambled behind the wooden table.

The door swung open, she could roughly make out a tattered brown coat and worn out jeans. He held out a metal can and tipped its contents out, the strong smell of car garage on a busy day hit her. _Petrol!_

Will exploded out of the cupboard bow drawn "HUNTER'S GUILD! MOVE AND I SHOOT!"

Lana came out of cover, wand drawn and ready. Now she saw the man's face, uncombed hair, a sallow face and his watery blue eyes that darted from her to Will. He flung the metal can at Will. The ranger ducked and loosened an arrow, but a few seconds too late .The man had rushed out the door slamming it behind him.

Will cursed and ran for the window, before Lana could stop him he jumped out .She watched as he grasped the edge of roof beside them, he swung himself up, flipped and landed in a crouch on the roof . He ran off in pursuit of the man."Show off." she muttered and vanished into thin air appearing in the street below.

She caught sight of the tattered coat in the middle of the crowd and raced after it. The man looked back, his eyes widened and he ran faster.

She caught sight of a shadow gliding across the rooftops, Will had spotted him too.

Lana tore after him; _thank god I'm not the kind of high heel wearing kind of girl_ she thought. The man shoved several stalls aside ignoring the yells of angry sellers and people alike. _He's fast_.She watched her target sprint into an alley, she followed .The end of the alley had a metal fencing about six feet high , he leapt at the fencing scaling it like a spider.

He landed on the other side with a smug smile "Can little girls like you do that?"

"No, but they can do this." She vanished from his sight like mist and appeared in front of him. Before he could react she lashed out a booted heel and slammed her shoulder into his chest sending him stumbling backwards.

He swore as he regained balance pulling out a small dagger from his coat."I won't usually hit girls, but this is an exception."He snarled lunging at her. Lana backed up ,avoiding his short lethal stabs with the dagger."SAVAGE BLOW!" he roared, the dagger leapt at her tearing the sleeves of her robe.

She grimaced as blood seeped from a thin cut . Cold winds swept past them, Lana's palms grew hot, frost crept across her hands, she swept her hands outwards. Her attacker barely managed to dive aside, shards of ice pierced the ground where he had been seconds ago, but two found their mark, he screamed as one pierced his shoulder and the other bit into his thigh. Lana stepped closer; her fists now hardened with ice like a gauntlet .She hammered two punches into his stomach, He doubled over wheezing. He slashed back; a small red line appeared on Lana's arm. Fighting the pain she slapped his hand away, the dagger skittered across the cobbles .She lashed out kicking him in the middle of his legs , following with a backhand that caught the side of his head .The bandit couldn't take it anymore, he whimpered and kneeled over .

"LANA!" She looked up to see her mentor , he dropped down beside her."So sorry, are you alright? …good god, what happened to him."He handed her a bottle filled with purple liquid.

Lana gulped down the potion, her cuts faded instantly and her vitality along with her strength returned. "He believed in gender equality." she turned to Will grinning "I wasn't so keen on it."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N:**For Miss Winters, as usual. Thank you for all those ideas, also thank you Kitsune Shado for being the kind of beta reader that all writers want to have. Dear Winters, you've made me smile quite some in my lifetime and continue to do so. Thank you for spending time with me, laughing, discussing and making this story possible.

and thank you to all those readers out there for your patience.

The sky turned dark grey; Manji could hear a faint rumble in the distance. Cold drops of water fell from the heavens drenching him while sharp winds lashed at his face. He shivered and zipped up his coat. .

"Why couldn't we have stayed with them?" He sighed. The men that had saved him and Tristan had allowed them to stay, but his master had insisted that they should head over to an old motel. According to him, they needed to find an informant by the name of Gregory Lockwood, a librarian who knew the deceased arch mage.

"A little rain builds character you know," Tristan said in an almost cheerful-like manner .Unlike his apprentice, he'd worn warmer clothing.

"Can I build character tomorrow, when it's not so bloody cold?" Manji slipped his hands into his pockets to keep his hands warm. The rain had plastered his hair to his head and he suddenly realized he was starving. He began to think of imaginary sandwiches, _some bread, cheese and maybe a slice of ham in between._ His stomach growled loudly.

Tristan gave him a weary smile and handed Manji his scarf. "Better now?"

Manji nodded, wrapping the scarf around his neck. "Hey Tristan, when do we get to eat?"

Tristan looked at him wistfully. "I'm hungry too, but in this weather, no shops are going to be open; they're all scared of undead."

"Are you serious?" Manji asked incredulously.

Tristan shrugged, "The silly sods believe that rain makes them more aggressive."

"So…. we're stuck starving because of a superstition?"

"Pretty much."

Manji trudged on; feeling water begin to drip down his back. He started on imaginary sandwich number two.

The neon light flickered; it had the lighting power of an emo, suicidal firefly.

Manji looked at the neon sign

Jack's Forty Winks Motel

The walls consisted more of paint chipping than paint itself. Manji wondered how anyone could get forty winks in this motel; they'd probably never make it through the first wink with all the clattering and creaking the windows made. Every time the wind got a little stronger, the whole structure would lean a little to the left.

"At least you're not wet anymore," Tristan said. Manji nodded dejectedly in reply. For some reason, the image of a certain red haired ice lightning mage popped into his head, he hadn't seen her for days, and he actually found himself missing her_. I hope Lana didn't have to suffer like this_. He pushed the heavy wooden door and walked into the reception area.

The reception area was extremely small. '_Walk in too fast and you'd come out the other side,'_ Manji thought. The Forty Winks Hotel had a small and empty entertainment lounge. Manji wasn't too surprised; the person who had been singing while he was observing the room sounded like several tortured chipmunks.

"Pay her to shut up," Tristan mumbled.

Manji threw a few bronze coins into the singer's hat and she fell silent immediately. A pudgy man sat behind the reception counter. Manji assumed he was Jack. He looked up from his paperback at Tristan, "What do yer want?" he grunted.

Tristan pulled out a photo, "Gregory Lockwood .Where is he?"

The man's eyes glinted, "I think I can remember where he is, but I need some…motivation."

Tristan sighed and slapped a gold coin on the counter. "Now, where is he?"

"Mmm, I still can't quite remem…ahhh!" The man gave a yelp as Tristan reached across the counter and grabbed him by the collar. Despite the man's immense weight, Tristan pulled him off his feet and over the counter.

"WHERE IS HE?" he roared. Spending a whole day getting wet hadn't helped Tristan's temper, and the man had been the rather unfortunate person to find out what a bad tempered Tristan's acted like.

"R-Room 7-70." He squeaked.

Tristan let him go; the man fell back onto his chair gasping. "Hey wait! You need keys to get to his room."

Tristan looked at him, "Is there even a lock?"

The man fell silent.

"Gregory Lockwood!" Tristan rapped sharply on the door. No reply.

They waited for a moment, but still no reply. Tristan pushed the door, and it swung open. "I think he's had visitors," Tristan mumbled.

'_That was the understatement of the century,'_Manji thought. The curtains had been torn up, the drawers torn open and the chairs could have fitted in several matchboxes. The two-seat couch had been turned into a rather messy three seater. Stampeding bulls could have done less damage.

"My goodness, look at the sofa bed," he said, tufts of cotton lay around like snow.

"Erm… Manji, that's not a sofa bed."

Manji realized he had been looking at a very dead sofa. "Oh…I knew that…. sort of."

Then he noticed a small bedside table, oddly it had been left untouched.

He opened the drawer and looked inside. "Tristan! I think I found something."

Tristan ran over, "What?"

Manji held up a small paper bag, on it had a small yellow post it note.

Dear Hunter's Guild,

There wasn't much left, so I decided to save you the trouble.

From: Salvatore

Tristan tipped the contents of the bag out, a small amount of grey sand fell onto his open palm.

"What is that? - "

Suddenly, Manji realized what it was .He gasped, "Tristan …is that ….ash?"

Tristan nodded grimly. "At least it's somewhat respectful. Plus now we know who's behind all this."

Manji looked at the paper bag; just looking at it sent chills up his spine. "Is that a good thing?"

"Why didn't he fight back?" Will stared at the photo of Drake Winchester.

Lana shrugged. "He got careless?"

She gulped down coffee; safe houses were the boring part of the job, but necessary. The small single windowed room consisted of bare walls, a table, and two chairs. The only food and drink they had were coffee and apples. Safe houses, she observed usually had the hospitality and comfort of jail cells.

Will shook his head, "Did you see how many deadbolts that guy had?"

"Can you loosen the knots?" They looked at the man they'd captured earlier.

"Come on, I promise not to try anything." The bandit attempted scoot over to them; he failed miserably.

"At least free my legs, I think they died a few minutes ago."

Will sighed. "Colly, your legs have my deepest condolences, but I'm not going to give you a chance to beat us to death while our backs are turned."

Colly opened his mouth to protest, "How can I beat you to death when I'm tied-".

Will had picked up an apple and shoved it neatly into the bandit's open mouth.

"There, much better." He said looked satisfied at the bandit, his talking unexpectedly cut short.

Lana felt something wrong, much like an animal fleeing before a disaster, something felt out of place. "Will I think-"

She heard the soft tinkle of shattering glass. Seconds later, a grey blur shot through the window, and a metal star protruded from where she'd been standing seconds ago. Will's eyes widened.

"Shuriken, we've got assassin!" He yelled pulling Colly desperately away; sadly, he acted moments too late.

Three sharpened throwing star hissed through the window. Lana watched Colly topple over, blood flowed freely where a star had hit his chest. More of the deadly projectiles rained through the window. Broken glass littered the ground. Will splayed his fingers, the air in front of them rippled as shuriken bounced away from Lana and embedded themselves into the wall.

Lana focused her mind on the window. Tiny white tendrils began spread across the window rapidly. Soon frost covered the whole glass. Lana clenched her hands into fists, and the frost became solid. The shuriken clattered against the ice, but her magic held firm.

"Hah, get through that." Lana grinned.

She had a short-lived victory. _Crack!_ The door shuddered, splinters flew. _Crunch!_ Metal screeched and wood groaned. The door violently burst off its hinges. Lana shielded her face, wincing as stray wood scraped and cut her arms.

A man melded out of the shadows, stepping over the destroyed door. Lana shivered, he smelled of free magic, an evil stench that could only be described as a mix of blood and decaying flesh. He had a pale complexion with a sharp jaw, and his eyes were bright topaz and glowed in the dark like those of cats and owls. His spindly legs carried him without so much as a whisper of any sound. A cold hand clutched her heart tightly, dark red blood dripped from his corners of his mouth.

"It's a Soul drinker." Will whispered, he replaced his bow and slipped a knife from his jacket.

The man hissed and its lips parted to reveal a row of needle like teeth.

The man's hands bulged, bones creaked, muscles strained, jagged white knives tore out of each of his hands from between his knuckles. Bone white shards ripped the back of his shirt open, protruding out of his spine. Fear battered Lana's heart. _Please don't let me die._ She prayed silently. Frost enveloped her hands, a slender stake made of ice crystallized in her tightly clenched fists.

Will launched himself in front of her, his silver knife flashed. The soul drinker let out a shriek as gold liquid jetted from its chest. Gritting her teeth, Lana plunged the stake of ice deep into the soul drinker's midsection. Dark sapphire coils of electricity wreathed her wand; the smell of burning ozone filled the air. "Storm lance." she whispered.

Howling gales rushed through the room. Lana directed all her fear at the soul drinker; glowing blue marks appeared on her palm followed by a brilliant white bolt of lightning that lanced the soul drinker in the chest blasting it into the wall, it didn't get up.

Lana breathed a sigh of relief; _it can be killed after all._

And then the soul drinker moved the creature crawled back to its feet unsteadily; it placed a hand on the knife that had buried itself up to the hilt. Lana watched in horror as it wrenched the silver blade out of its smoking blackened chest, it tossed the dripping knife aside. It did the same to the ice stake.

The soul drinker snarled its bloodied teeth gnashed. Lana felt cold glass behind her._3…2…1_

The ice coating the window shattered. Lana tumbled out of the window into the cold rain, scraping her knees as she landed on rough gravel. She ignored the stinging pain and began to run.

She heard a blood choked scream behind her. She stopped and turned to face the broken window. _Will?_

"WILL!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. No reply.

"WILL!" She still heard nothing save the steady pitter patter of rain.

"YAHHHH!" Her rain drenched mentor crashed out the window, rolling as he landed. "I've alerted Manji and Tristan." He choked out.

He looked at her stunned face, "WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE YOU SILLY TURNIP, RUN!"

He was back in the rain, again. Puddles were splashed by pounding feet; a young rookie white knight raced through the streets of Edelstein his face looked weary, his leather boots were muddied, but he didn't care. He had only one thought going through his mind, _save Lana_

Tristan followed him with easy strides "Manji!" he called pointing up.

A white arc of brilliant light detonated above them, it streaked across the sky like a shooting star.

Manji watched it, _that's Lana's distress signal._He thought as he vaulted over a wall in the direction that the white signal had fell.

Lana jumped as the chimney she'd ducked behind dissolved slowly into dust. The soul drinker howled, shadow spells appeared on a small section of the roof causing it to rot away into nothing.

Arrows whistled past her, ripping into the soul drinker's throat, gold blood splattered the wall behind it; it tumbled backwards into a food stall. This didn't help Lana relax at all, as she jumped onto a verandah of a nearby house, she could hear dreadful screeching behind her.

"What is it?" She yelled over to Will who had caught up with her, he'd spent no less than twelve arrows, all of them with almost no effect on the monster.

"It's a corrupted dual blade; a dual blade is an assassin that uses a branch of necromancy to kill. After a while, they abandon their knives and trade them for darker arts, hence-"another chimney disintegrated behind him.

"How do we kill it?"

"Can't, you can bind in metal though." Will rummaged into his bag and threw her a metal flask.

Lana caught it; she raised an eyebrow, "Happy dancing toothbrushes?"

Will shrugged. "Beggars can't be choosers."

He pointed at two pin pricks of light through mist and rain. "Over there is a park with a binding circle, you'll need to do it there."

"B-but I don't know how to bind anything." Lana protested

"Would you rather weaken the soul drinker?"

Lana shivered at the thought, "This will end poorly," she mumbled.

**********.

The rusted gates gave a loud protest as both Lana and Will forced it open.

"Light." Will cast his open palm at a street lamp, sparks danced through his fingers, fire cackled and suddenly every street lamp in the area spluttered to life filling the park with an orange glow.

Lana looked on the ground, she imagined a sort of five pointed star of some kind but there were none. "Will? Where's the binding circle?"

Will laughed, "Look at the lamps."

Lana saw faint runes carved on the street lamp; she realized they hadn't just been on the lamps, they were on the trees, gate, even on lanterns.

"Wow" She whispered.

The trees rustled, Lana's ears pricked up, leaves crunched.

"Binding requires you to focus on the single thought of sealing and the spell will appear; the hardest part is the weakening." Will said hurriedly. He drew an arrow from his quiver.

Suddenly Will tapped Lana's shoulder and placed a finger over his lips. He hassled Lana behind a bush. A hush fell over the park; Lana's breathing came out shallow and fast. The wind tossed up leaves and rain dripped on the park benches, nothing else could be heard.

Lana nearly fell over as a screech like the call of a gore crow rang across the park, the soul drinker leapt into the open; its coal black eyes narrowed "Huntersss."

Lana watched Will fling a fireball at the soul drinker, smiting it in the chest. The soul drinker eyes adverted it gaze to him. '_Stay down, stay down,'_ she repeated silently to herself.

Will gulped, "Okay kids, lesson over." He raced off away from Lana vanishing like mist in the wind. The soul drinker bounded in the same direction.

Minutes passed, Lana breathed a sigh of relief and crawled out from hiding, she was safe for now, she wished the same was true for Will.

Will ran over a bridge and turned to face his pursuer. He could see the vague loping soul drinker gaining fast.

He raised his bow and closed an eye. '_Breath in, breath out.'_

"Inferno" he said softly, a flaming arrow torched the grass where the soul drinker had been seconds ago.

Four shadow glyphs shot at him transforming into dark spears. Will weaved neatly through the first three deflecting the last one with his bow. The ground beneath the soul drinker exploded like a land mine, tossing it roughly into a tree, wood cracked and splintered.

The soul drinker got up, it shrieked at him revealing its terrifying row of needle sharp teeth. The same spell shot at him. The black spears exploded with a rush of blue flames a few feet from him.

The creature snarled and lunged at him its bloody claws raised; Will raised his bow. They collided with massive artillery-like explosion followed by a shockwave that sent both of them sprawling in opposite directions. Will skidded and slammed painfully into a bench, he groaned, blood dripped from gash on his left shoulder. He took a deep breath and got up unsteadily, the world seemed blurry around him.

The soul drinker was on him yet again, bloodlust fueling its powerful assaults. Its ice-white claws slashed at his throat missing by a margin, he ducked and felt the air lacerate above him. _Shoot!_ He drew his silver hunting knife and parried two vicious blows; sparks flew from the force of impact, with swift dexterity he swung his knife upwards catching the soul drinker's jaw, his hands flew to his quiver and he desperately stabbed with an arrow, driving cold steel all the way through its chest.

It simply wrenched the arrow back out and flung it at him, it hissed past his left cheek leaving a thin red line. Ignoring the minor cut he spun around, lifting his heel clear off the ground.

His boot smashed the soul drinker in the chest accompanied by a satisfying _crunch_, causing the soul drinker to stumble backwards, but raked its claws across the archer's side. Will found himself hurled sideways, the air knocked clean out of his lungs.

Will gasped and coughed on all fours in an attempt to get some oxygen back, he looked down at his ripped leather mail the magical enchantments had held but he felt like an elephant had decided to Pilates on him.

'_Can't do this much longer, _'he thought.

Will had barely a seconds warning before something shot past him. '_Damn!'_He watched the soul drinker take to the skies, black sinewy tattered wings carrying it through the night. '_He can do that?'_

A shadow bolt ripped a nearby tree apart from branch to root._'Rats!'_ he thought.

"Guardian!" He commanded fingers glowing with blue energy. Blast after blast pounded the magical shield. He rolled across the grass only to be almost killed by a violent blast of magic.

'_I need space to maneuver' ._He crashed behind a large rock._ 'Let's hope this works, Silver hawk!'_ A giant hawk storm grey feathers covering its body materialized before him and he swiftly climbed on. Wind and water lashed at his face, as both wings of the powerful avian soared skywards.

He saw a small figure tearing through the trees, he recognized it as Lana.

'_You've never been good at following orders_,' he thought as a weary smile spread across his face. '_I suppose I'll have to tell you that if I come back alive.'_

Lana watched as her master's hawk collided with the soul drinker in mid air, together both of them tumbled into the grey storm clouds above. She stood in the middle of a glowing white binding pentacle, praying as rain poured down drenching her hair.

**A/N**: I may not be updating very quickly since the best stories are sometimes not the ones that are written the fastest, but rather those that haven been given a lot of thought and care before being put on paper. That and I also have a very busy life.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The skies flashed iridescent shades of blue and dark purple. The scent of rain and dirt lingered thick in the air as torrents of water poured from above. Thunder boomed, like cries of heaven shaking the skies and making the earth tremble.

Lana stared up, her sharp green eyes scanning the clouds. Water streamed down her face, tears or rainwater she couldn't tell difference. A shadow fell, two dark shapes tumbled downwards, as they got closer Lana could see Will with his knives lodged in the soul drinker's wings, a small crater erupted from the impact as they landed.

She rushed over, her wand out and heart racing. Dried blood ran down Will's leather armor, his face streaked with dirt and rain."Get on with it. "he mumbled."

The soul drinker began to rise. Lana took out the metal flask that now felt hot and warm in her hands. Magic coursed into Lana's mind like a stream. She began to chant, the words came unbidden to her lips as if she'd known them her whole life.

By the pentagram I swear,

Water, fire, earth and air,

I call the earth to bind my spell,

The might of air to hold you well,

Bright as fire it shall glow,

Deep as tide of water flow,

By the spirit this spell is spun

To imprison you in moon or sun

The soul drinker fought against the spell, like a shadow twisting and struggling dragged to the light of day. Lana poured all her mental will into the spell.

A ring of fire burst from the soul drinker's chest, a pentacle of gold formed inside the circle followed by silver runes which appeared on it's arms and shoulders. It shrieked and trashed, like the sound of a thousand nails being pulled across a blackboard.

Lana watched the soul drinker as her vision began to fade, its skin turned black and began to flake it almost seem to dissolve, faster and faster till all that was left was grey dust, the air swept it up into the metal flask she was holding, and then all was still.

"LANA!" She heard a familiar voice and pounding of feet.

"Manji?" she slurred, her legs refused to support her any longer.

'I hope you can catch me.' She thought as she her vision faded completely.

Light broke through the windows, chasing away the last remnants of his dreams. Manji's eyes opened slowly. He groaned and brushed away the red wisps of hair from his face. _Red hair?_ He cerulean blue eyes widened. Lana was lying beside him, she stirred but didn't wake.

"You spent the whole night healing her."Manji yelped and turned. Tristan was leaning against the doorframe, blue eyes glittering with amusement.

"Oh,..I forgot."Manji mumbled. He looked at the red haired mage. A kind of simple innocence showed on her sleeping face, serene dreams blocking out the dangers of the outside. '_You look happier like that',_

Tristan belted on his sword and tightened the straps on his bracer. "She needs rest ,and you need to come with me."

"Now? Its three in the bloody morning."

"We've got leads on this Salvatore character and some greater dead called Koarath, it's not pretty."

Will sighed and poured himself a cup of tea, wisps of steam floated from his mug "Hunter corps has issued orders, every capable agent is out and active in field as we speak."

"Is it Salvatore?"

In the lamp light, for a brief moment the young archer had white hair and lines across his face."That unfortunately is the problem. They're not going after Salvatore, apparently the Temple of Time is about to be attacked by Koarath the Dead."

"Who's Koarath?'

"Not important right now, it does suffice to say, he's not the happy kumbaya singing hippe type. The corps has called both me and Tristan to help. I'm afraid you'll have to continue pursuing Salvatore alone for a while. "

'Alone.' The word hit Manji like a sledgehammer to the chest. He turned to Tristan, his master's face gave nothing away, but those blue eyes spoke for themselves, deep down Tristan would never admit it, but Tristan would miss Manji.

"How, When, can't you?" a steady flow of protests and questions rose up in Manji.

Tristan placed his hand on his apprentice's mouth to stop him. Those dark blue eyes leveled with his."We have to go, but you must keep pace with Salvatore because if we lose him or her, we'll regret it in the future. You're the most competent apprentice I've trained in a long time, you have my faith."

Manji nodded, with what he hoped looked like bravery secretly he felt his legs turn to silly putty.

Will strung his bow and shouldered his quiver. "We have to go, Manji don't worry we'll be back soon enough, all the info we have so far on Salvatore is Lana's room."

Will reached for the door. "Oh ,and Manji, take care of my apprentice I like her happy, healthy and preferably in one piece."

Manji nodded.

Will paused for a bit. "Manji, you're not starting to develop feelings for her are you."

Manji choked."No, god no."

Will gave an unholy grin and went out the door."Pity." he called out before closing the door with a bang and Manji was alone.

_A pity? Will is out of his mind. There is no possible way that I have feelings for Lana… _thought Manji as he made his way back to his room. Instead of a nice warm bed that he all to himself, he found Lana sleeping peacefully in it. Her red locks spread all over the pillow like flame, contrasting her serene face in sleep and pale rosy lips that curved in a soft smile. Manji found himself smiling unconsciously. Weary to the bones, he slumped on the nearby couch and fell fast asleep.

Manji woke up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. A somewhat familiar sizzling sound could be heard somewhere followed by a smell he hadn't gotten so much as a whiff of since he left his orphanage; frying eggs.

He worked his way downstairs and an interesting sight met him. Lana, fearless soul drinker slayer and lethal ice mage was now wearing a rather pink pair of oven mittens and a white apron with a kitten on it while flipping eggs over a frying pan. She caught sight of his stunned face,

"You will tell no one about this."

Manji finally found his ten thousand word vocabulary again. "You can cook?"

Lana rapped him lightly over the head with a spatula." Yes.".Manji sat down; Lana tossed a handful of mushroom into the pan and a flipped an omelette onto Manji's plate. He took a bite, "Hot! Hot!" he choked down the egg, though it tasted surprisingly palatable, just then the phone rang.

Lana wiped her mouth and answered. Her expression changed from the light cheerful pretty girl to a slightly more grim and serious."Local enforcers found a body, and they sound panicked."

"Panicked?"

"The victim, uhh maybe I shouldn't say it since we're eating breakfast and all."

Manji nodded, he shovelled the rest of breakfast into his mouth, being a hunter gave him amazing ability to make you forget the taste of food. He grabbed his coat off the wall along with his gloves and bracers. "So, what happen to the poor guy." he asked once dressed.

Lana strapped a dagger to her wrist. "He...he's missing his heart."

"What do you mean missing?"

"Quite literally, someone tore it out."

Manji bit back sickening feeling he had in his stomach. "I wished Will or Tristan were here" Lana mumbled. He nodded. For the first time Manji felt more scared than he ever had in his life. Lana gripped his hand, his rapid breathing eased a little but not fully, both of them trudged through the snowy fields, the frosty winds that slashed his face felt colder and more hostile than ever.

The guard uncrossed the halberd, this was the third guard Manji walked by 'There's a small army here.' He thought.

"HUNTER!" a man with a white and maroon surcoat raced up to them his eyes showed relief and fear. "Liam Carver. Curse and hexes forensics."

Manji cleared his throat."Lead on Mr Carver." He hope he sounded a little more professional then he felt.

A uniformed man raced past them and gave a retching sound as he bent over a bush. "New guy." Liam mumbled. Manji looked at the man still emptying his stomach on a patch of flowers.

Liam led them to a house or at least what was left of it, ash littered the ground and the thick scent of melted paint and scorched wood felt bitter in his nostrils it choked him like a physical hand grasping his throat followed by a sickly, cloying, sweet smell. Like 200 lbs of rotting hamburger, the smell of death magic.

It didn't resemble a human at a first glance, dark fleck of scorched skin littered the ground, hollow blackened eye sockets stared devoid of any emotion back a Manji, a ragged fist size hole had been torn on the left side of the victim's chest a trail of dried blood. Manji's eyes followed the trail to a pentacle had been made near him from ashes and rose petals. He froze; frost bit into his veins, bloody and untouched by the fire a human heart laid there tainting the snow a deep shade of crimson.

"My god." He heard Lana whisper." I never thought…"

"Ii would look like this." Manji finished. She nodded silently.

Manji took a deep breath and inspected the body. He caught sight of a glint of white in the snow; he dug his hand onto the frosty ground and pulled it out. It was a dagger, ragged edges lined the white blade, and a snake formed the hilt, its teeth biting into the cross guard. 'It's not made of steel or iron.' Manji ran his thumb experimentally across the, he gave a surprised cry of pain as blood seeped rapidly out of hand like it had been slashed instead of lightly touched. He threw the dagger down and healed his hand, slowly his skin flowed together and the bleeding stopped.

"It's cursed." Liam mumbled picking up the dagger with a handkerchief.

He touched the snake in the handle"Hexa Revolios " a grid of marks and symbols burst out of the blade.

Lana looked over the curse magician's shoulder."A few life sapping, destruction marks and energy draining marks, the rest is…holy magic?"

"Not quite" Liam flipped the blade the other side revealed more marks. "Necromancy is on the other side."

"I wonder…" Liam approached the body. He lightly brushed through the burnt remains of the dead man's clothing. "He's a luminous."

Manji gave his hand a shake to make sure all five fingers were still present "A what?"

"A Luminous is a branch of magic involving both Holy Magic and Necromancy."He showed a Manji small burnt shred of cloth with a skeleton bearing a cross it its right hand and a staff in the other.

"Wielding both light and dark magic gives them astounding power, judging by the ritual performed on this poor man, the killer may have wanted his energy."

Lana stared at the burnt corpse in mild surprise "As in, he was drained of his magic?"

Liam took a pair of glasses out, his green eyes flickering from one mark on the dagger to the next."Luminous magic has a lot of power fueling it, his life force and magic combined can be contained and sucked out of him by a skilled necromancer. The dagger was probably an instrument for that exact purpose. "

"What on earth would someone need so much raw energy for?"

"Hard to say really, lots of things, detonate it in a city and there'd be no city left for the next mile or so."

"I don't suppose you know any way of finding these luminous people, do you Liam?"

"Well…Most of them are quite…unhinged, but if you insist maybe you could try kerning underground, they call it the Ghost streets,or the death gates " He scribbled quickly on a piece of paper.

Manji sighed and looked at Lana "They always give themselves such cute, non-threatening names don't they."

Kerning, the lights of the never sleeping city were nearly blinding. Advertisements, signs, and posters hung from almost every building in a dazzling array of colors. From the depths of the man-made wonder, people shouting from building to building, and blaring music could be heard from seemingly miles around. The night air hung with scents of street vendors, restaurants, and tiny parks.

But walk away from the life and sound, underneath in the underbelly of the city and slowly a different story unfolds.

The ghost streets, the street was dark as fear, death crawled in every alley way, with ruined towers and what was once a shrine crushed and forgotten... crunched up newspapers blew wildly in the wind. The night was cold as ice, and the lights flickered on and off. Then out of a shivering mist came a shadowy figure. A man with grey robes jars of crimson liquid hang across his chest tinkling like tiny bells accompanied by the dull thuds of his wooden staff hitting the ground. The beggars did not bother him and even the drunks with what little sobriety they have stayed clear of him.

He entered a back alley; the hood shifted as pair of storm grey eyes scanned the area. A slim shadow leaked across the cobbles, quicker than speed of thought a knife flashed out of his robes_."_Who's there?" he called.

The reply came in the form of a barrage of hailstones that battered his head and chest. He shielded himself with his arms."CRUCIFY!" he roared smashing a glass jar at feet, dark crimson stakes seeped up from the ground and shot back at the direction the hailstones were coming from. Lana ducked behind a chimney as they embedded themselves in the brickwork. She raised her palm once more sending another assault of frost and snow, this time she made sure they didn't miss.

Manji watched from 50 meters from a ruined church tower. He stood on the edge of the crumbling stonework.

He looked down at ground that looked so very far beneath him _'Wait till Tristan hears about this._'

Manji took a deep breath and dived.

The air whistled terrifically fast around him, the ground raced up to meet him. '3…2…1' _Slipstream'_. A pulse of energy raced down his legs propelling off the wall, golden sigils erupted from his fists as he sped towards the necromancer. "Lumiere!" the man barely had enough time to look up before the holy arte blasted him off his feet, followed what felt like a meteor smashed into his chest.

Lana watched her friend slam feet first into the necromancer with almost gleeful satisfaction."You have got to do that again sometime."

Manji groaned. "If I'd miscalculated I'd be very very dead."

The necromancer stirred "I-"Manji's knuckles cut off the rest of his sentence.

"If you don't stop hitting me I'll-"Lana dropped a kick on his jaw.

Lana looked at him "Sorry, Manji did you catch that?"

"Nope, but I think he said something important."

"WILL YOU STOP HITTING ME FOR FIVE SECONDS?!"The much bruised necromancer howled.

"Oh sorry…"

"Thank yo-." before he could finish, a force slammed into his nose with a dull crunch, he gave a moan and slumped into a heap against the wall.

Lana dusted her gloved hands. "There, that's five seconds."

Manji looked at the slumped figure "You think we hit him too hard?"

Lana sighed "Probably not. He'll wake up kicking a hell of a fuss."

As if on cue the necromancer groaned, he felt around his chest clumsily.

Manji sat down opposite the necromancer without the hood the gave him his dangerous air looked surprisingly normal. "Your blood jars are making wonderful wind chimes outside."

"So, well start with the basics Mr. Sezarius."

Sezarius said nothing.

Lana sat beside Manji."Sezarius? Parents didn't think that one through did they."

The necromancer glared at her.

"It's alright, they made a small mistake, we all make mistakes. We'll call you suzy, makes it easier on you. You know the name-"

"ARE YOU GOING TO GET THIS OVER WITH!?"

Manji hid a smile, but even then a flicker of a grin crossed his face. If there was anyone who knew how to drive people up a wall it was Lana.

"Okay Suzy calm down, think happy, unicorns, rainbows, teddy bears. Come on repeat with me."

"Please." Sezarius mumbled. "I'll tell you anything, just shut her up."

Manji held his hand up to temporarily stop Lana's extensive descriptions of gummy bear world. "We need to know about a bunch of people called Luminous."

Sezarius's eyes widened. "You're utterly senseless aren't you."

"That's not important, what do you know about them?"

Sezarius sighed."Nothing, that's the point, no one that encounters them come back alive."

Manji produced the photographs of the crime scene. Sezarius paled a little, "I didn't do that I swear."

"We know we're looking for a person called Salvatore."

Sezarius turned the color of paper. He began shaking his head frantically. "I'm not telling you anything."

"So you do know something."

"No, I want to wake up the next morning. Preferably in one piece."

" What if I lock you up with my friend over here for an hour or two?"

Sezarius's eyes flicked to Lana. She smiled and waved back. "Fine kid, but only for a small fee. Say, 7K? Messos in small change"

"Five. All I need is a location, not that costly"

"Seven."

"Five and you get your blood jars back ."

"Deal."

Manji tossed both the blood jars and a leather pouch at the necromancer's feet, untying him "Try anything and I'll quarantine you with my other friends for days."

Sezarius scrawled something on the table.

The Styx Library

"Nice doing business with you. I'll find my own way." Sezarius growled slamming the door behind him.

Lana looked at Manji."Gone so soon? Was is something I said?"

"Meh, probably."

They were back in the cold again, bitter winds bit his cheeks and face. He looked at Lana, the cold winds swept at her but stopped inches from her and diverted. Manji clicked his fingers, flames flared at his fingertips casting an orangey glow around them. The frost melted from their clothing."Much better."

The scent of crushed pine needles filled the air, the ragged snow cliffs loomed above them like a grey white mass threatening to crush them.

Lana looked up at the two pin pricks of yellow light in the distance where they knew the library lay."Who the heck builds a Library on a bloody snowy cliff?"

"Not sure, people that don't fancy being found?"

"But really? I cliff? Could we take a nice mission next time, one that involves sitting by the beach with lemonade in our hands. Don't have many of those do we?"

Manji chuckled. "Pity. I wonder why."

"Lots of traveling and good healthcare too. Will told me that on my first day of my apprenticeship." Lana rolled her eyes. "And I actually believed him."

Manji smiled remembering the days of his early apprenticeship, so relaxed, no life and death situations they lingered at the back of his mind like the memory of a tasty meal that had been eaten months ago."Well we are traveling, and I guess when every we get beaten up, they do provide us with good healthcare."

The cry came short and sharp ,piercing through his thoughts . Immediately both of them raced over the snow covered ground

"Male?"

"Probably."

"Killed or wounded ?"

"Killed, if he was wounded he would still be making noise."

'If we're right I'm taking a holiday, when you can identify their gender and condition by screams you've clearly overdone your job' Manji thought, he drew his katana, three feet of silver steel joined the cheery mood. The library came into view, a grey stone building blotched with white patches, and intricate lanterns cast distorted orangey lights everywhere. The stone pillars however depicted scenes of war and death, great waves crashing down upon armies. 'Poor Chaps.' a detailed screaming legionary clung to the edges of the stone carvings.

"You take the balcony." Lana nodded vanishing in a flash of brilliant blue light.

Manji's hand rested on the wooden oak doors. He hesitated 'Doors are for those with no creativity.' How much rust had accumulated on those hinges? He carefully grasp a ledge and pulled up leaping through an open window landing on the balls of his feet and rolling.

"Help me.".Manji almost leapt foot in the air.

A man lay on the dusty floor blood blossoming out of his shattered chest plate, his broken gauntlets grasping Manji's ankle. Manji knelt beside the man his palms glowing, 'come on, come on, heal!' the white light flickered and dimmed, finally extinguishing in his palm leaving white smoke coiling out of his clenched fist. The man didn't move, his eyes staring into space.

Manji gripped his sword, 'There'll be more like him, if I don't hurry.' He opened the door every nerve in his body seemed stretched." Lana." he called softly making his way down the cobwebbed corridors the musty shelves creating a labyrinth of books. Then he heard it the sound of footsteps below, the rustle and tearing of paper. He watched a figure cloaked in crimson the figure walk past across the landing tossing books with impunity one landed in the fountain nearby with a splash.

Without warning every single torch and lantern roared to life.

More footsteps, another figure appeared. From a distance Manji made out some rough features, male blonde hair, green robes His fingers alight with dancing sparks"HEY YOU-"

Almost lazily the hooded figure pushed the man in the chest lightly. The scent of roses filled the air , Manji watched with his heart in his mouth as , black crystals tore from the stone floor impaling him, the man crumpled to his knees mouth open in a silent attempt to cry out. The figure continued as if the dead body was never there. Manji's hands turned pale and his breathing quickened. He grasp the rough stonework of the library pillars and scaled down like a grey spider.

Then he felt it, a blinding burst of sound and color, followed by the same scent of roses.

Pure instinct saved him as he dive rolled the last few meters, a fork of black lightning tore a chunk of the pillar apart, gravel and small stones showered him.

"Manji Andrea, so young, so daring, but of course we both know you're not to young to die.. " The voice was soft like feathers falling on snow. The hood dropped. Loose strands of short blonde hair framed her face.

"Loreann Salvatore at your service." Piercing green eyes glittered,

Manji staggered to his feet, "Starburst!" he plunged his sword into the ground, the hilt and the blade melded into the an intricate holy cross. Aquamarine flames rushed at Salvatore leaving a trail of white sparks in its wake. In seconds, a firestorm had erupted around her. Manji shielded his eyes.

Then he heard a loud hissing sound, the same fire storm that had consumed Salvatore had vanished, she stood there smoke curling around her, almost unhurt save a few light burn marks. She smiled"My turn."

Shadows melted off the walls, seeping from every dark corner into her hands. Manji turned to run, before he'd gone a single pace, a hot stinging pain shot through his ankle, the stone floor rushed to meet him. He felt warm liquid run down his leg. He looked up to see Salvatore holding a scythe made from shadows, it twisted and coiled around her hand like black mist. She flung it. Manji lunged to the left as the black blade came whistling down inches from his shoulder leaving a sizeable crack in the floor.

He ducked behind a table that exploded forcefully into splinters, burnt paper scattered and ink hit the opposite wall leaving messy dark splatters. He dashed across the hall, despite the burning sensation in his leg, behind him bookshelves crumpled into ashes and others were slashed clean in half, threatening to bury him in a grave of hardcover. The shadows around Salvatore lengthened and sharpened, before he knew it daggers of darkness were coming his way, he deflected two off his sword edge. Emerald mist burst from his left arm." BASTION!" the mist solidified into a transparent shield, sweat dripped from his brow as dagger after dagger pounded the magical ward mercilessly.

The last dagger shattered his defenses, the ward shattered into fragments of light that drifted away, Manji doubled over in pain as a dagger cut his forearm, deep red blood rushed out of the wound staining his palms.

"ICE WALL!" the water that had been in the fountain rushed upwards turning into crystalline ice, the rest of the daggers clattered against it. Manji looked up to see Lana on the floor above a white bow materialized in her hand, a volley of glasslike arrows soared overhead, with inhuman agility Salvatore weaved through the arrows, plucking the last one out of the air and hurling it back Lana who had to throw up another ice barrier, stopping it inches from her face.

Manji held his hand out"Heal." His gasping in pain as the blood flow lessened to a small trickle. He let the dark dagger fall to the floor with a clatter. Lana shot another volley, but it had almost no effect as a blast of black flames consumed it. Salvatore raised her palm, Lana yelled in surprise as a shadow fist crashed into her chest, she flew across the library into a table that broke clean into two, she tried it get up but the splinters had lodged itself in her thigh and back, she stood up shakily but fell to her knees again.

Salvatore jumped shadows propelling her onto a bookshelf, "I do so love the sort of energy you young people have."

"But my sister is flying here with that phoenix of hers, so I bid you farewell."

Manji prepared to dive of block any spell that she might throw at him. "I won't let you kill me or Lana," he whispered, but he wondered if those brave words might be his last.

"Dear me, what on earth gave you the impression I liked killing people? I'm all for happiness you know.-"

An ear-piercing shriek drowned out the rest of her words. A huge raven came crashing through the wooden doors, its feathers like midnight and claws as long and sharp as swords. Salvatore leapt upon the great bird." He's more punctual than the bus, cheaper too." The raven took off with a powerful beat of its wings causing a mini typhoon in the library; Manji found himself thrown backwards into a pillar, bruising his back painfully. Part of the roof caved it rubble and rocks showered down creating a hole in the ceiling.

"HURRICANE!" A torrent of spectral arrows hissed past the raven but missed it by a whisker. The raven and its rider turned into shadows and scattered, vanishing. Athena Pierce storming through the damaged door, bow raised cold fury in her eyes. The second she saw Manji and Lana bruised and battered her gaze softened. She lowered her bow and helped both of them up. "I'm sorry that you had to suffer my sister like that."

"Your sis-"Manji looked closer at the leader of the hunter's corps. The blonde hair, and the same piercing green eyes.

"I can explain later."Athena said quickly

"What about the library?"Manji asked. Just then a beam groaned and collapsed sending a whole row of bookcases down like dominoes.

"Later."

"What I wouldn't give to see the repairman's face when we send him the bill," Lana mumbled placing her arm around Manji's shoulders and limping out of what was left of the Great Styx Library.


End file.
